Chapters 5-7 in Mathew are known as the Sermon on the Mount, which took place on a hillside near Capernaum. It challenged the proud religious leaders of that time.
The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus' longest sermon recorded in the Bible and he began by describing the characteristics he was looking for in his followers, which are the Beatitudes. He says that he blesses those who desire, develop and live out these characteristics. The best example of each characteristic is found in Jesus himself. And if our goal is to become like Jesus, applying the Beatitudes will challenge the way we live our lives.
The word BEATITUDE comes from the Latin word BEATUS, which means blessed. So we know straight away that this passage is about how God blesses his people.
The beatitudes should guide us, point us in the right direction, teach us, and show us the values that Jesus cares about. As we read them we should be looking at whether or not we are trying to follow them.
The First Beatitude verse 3
God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him,
for the kingdom of heaven is given to them.
The word poor here means those who are poor IN SPIRIT. Jesus wasn't talking about people being financially poor. To be poor in spirit means to recognize that we fall short of what God wants us to be. It means that we know we are unworthy to receive God's grace. The poor in spirit see that without God we cannot be forgiven and made new.
We see an example of being poor in spirit in Luke 18:9-14. It is the story of a Pharisee who believed he was completely righteous and looked down on everybody else. The Pharisee stood up in the temple and thanked God that he was not a thief, a liar or a cheat like the tax collector who was also at the temple. He boasted to God that he fasts twice a week and always gives a tenth of his earnings to God. The tax collector stood at a distance, feeling unworthy to look up to heaven. The tax collector said, "God, please have mercy on me, for I am nothing but a sinner." The Pharisee did not recognize his faults but the tax collector recognized his need for God and for forgiveness, and that is being poor in spirit.
Jesus says that only the poor in spirit will enter into the kingdom of God because they confess and turn to Jesus.
It is easy to agree that we need to walk in repentance but it can be hard to do. Pride can get in the way of us realising our need for God. James 4:7-10 tells us exactly how to develop the right attitude so that we can live by this first characteristic Jesus mentions. It tells us that we must humble ourselves to be able to recognize our need for God.
The Second Beatitude v4
God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Now the person that mourns is the person who becomes poor in spirit and repents. It isn't necessarily talking about mourning over the death of somebody. It is talking about recognizing that we are sinners and understanding how much those sins hurt God and others.
None of us can mourn like this unless we have the Holy Spirit within us because it is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin. When we sin we bring dishonour to God's name. We shouldn't allow ourselves to do wrong and just take forgiveness for granted.
When we want happiness at any cost the lines between right and wrong can become blurred and we stop seeing how far from Jesus we have come. That is when we stop mourning over our sin. But when we do mourn God will comfort us. One of the great examples showing this is the story of the prodigal son.
The Third Beatitude v5
God blesses those who are gentle and lowly,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
When we look in the Old Testament it says in Psalm 37:11 "The lowly will possess the land and will live in peace and prosperity". Jesus was saying the same thing in our reading in Matthew when he said that those who are gentle and lowly, meaning humble or meek, will inherit the earth.
The Greek word for meek is praus and was used to refer to domesticated animals. The word does not refer to a wild, disobedient animal; it refers to a strong and powerful horse or ox that was trained and disciplined so that it could be controlled by a human.
The word lowly (or meek) used in this verse refers to a strong person who is under God's control. They are controlled by God in every aspect of their lives, especially in their soul and spirit. Meekness is more than skin deep. It does not mean that we become weak. A meek or humble person cannot be walked over, but can be bold.
